US commercial crude oil inventories decreased by 1.1% during the week ending Dec. 17, according to the latest data released by the Energy Information Administration (EIA).
Inventories fell by 4.7 million barrels to 423.6 million barrels, exceeding the market expectation of a 2.63 million-barrel drop.
Strategic petroleum reserves, which are not included in commercial crude stocks, also declined by 2.5 million barrels to 596.4 million barrels last week, the data revealed.
However, gasoline inventories increased by 5.5 million barrels to 224.1 million barrels over that period.
- Crude production decreases
According to EIA data, US crude oil imports decreased by 277,000 barrels per day (bpd) to around 6.19 million bpd during the week ending Dec. 17, while crude oil exports increased by around 766,000 bpd to around 2.88 million bpd.
US crude oil production, meanwhile, fell by 95,000 bpd to approximately 12.05 million bpd during the same period.
The EIA estimates that US crude output will reach 11.85 million bpd for 2022, up from 11.18 million bpd in 2021.
By Firdevs Yuksel
Anadolu Agency
energy@aa.com.tr